Agricultural Production In Japan Research Articles

일본 메이지유신(明治維新) 이전의 지적조사(地籍調査)에 대한 고찰

The purpose of the study to understand the cadastral survey and ownership management of land prior to the Meiji period. The temporal scope of this study is limited to the Nara period from 710 to 1868. A cadastral investigation is a survey conducted mainly by municipalities to survey the land owner, parcel number, and purpose of land use and to measure the location and area of ​​the boundary for each parcel. However, there was no term for cadastral research at that time, but the same applies in terms of content. As a result of the study, manors and land subject to public authority in the late Heian period are divided into two types: manors, which are private lands controlled by aristocrats or temples, and public domains, which are controlled by public officials dispatched from the state. The manor and public land in the Kamakura period are changed by the invasion of the manor and public land by Jidu. And in the Muromachi period, the power of the nobles and monks who ruled the manor and the government officials dispatched from the state, who ruled the territories, weakened, and disputes over land became more and more complicated. In Taehap Geomji, first, the person who cultivates the farmland became the owner of the land. Second, the people had to pay taxes according to the amount of agricultural production. Third, samurai and peasants were completely separated, and farmers were only obligated to pay taxes as ownership of farmland was recognized. After such a cadastral survey of Taehap, it is suggested that the development of small agriculture and the increase in agricultural productivity in Japan served as a great foundation for a smooth transition from medieval feudal society to modern society.

일본 메이지유신(明治維新) 이전의 지적조사(地籍調査)에 대한 고찰

The purpose of the study to understand the cadastral survey and ownership management of land prior to the Meiji period. The temporal scope of this study is limited to the Nara period from 710 to 1868. A cadastral investigation is a survey conducted mainly by municipalities to survey the land owner, parcel number, and purpose of land use and to measure the location and area of ​​the boundary for each parcel. However, there was no term for cadastral research at that time, but the same applies in terms of content. As a result of the study, manors and land subject to public authority in the late Heian period are divided into two types: manors, which are private lands controlled by aristocrats or temples, and public domains, which are controlled by public officials dispatched from the state. The manor and public land in the Kamakura period are changed by the invasion of the manor and public land by Jidu. And in the Muromachi period, the power of the nobles and monks who ruled the manor and the government officials dispatched from the state, who ruled the territories, weakened, and disputes over land became more and more complicated. In Taehap Geomji, first, the person who cultivates the farmland became the owner of the land. Second, the people had to pay taxes according to the amount of agricultural production. Third, samurai and peasants were completely separated, and farmers were only obligated to pay taxes as ownership of farmland was recognized. After such a cadastral survey of Taehap, it is suggested that the development of small agriculture and the increase in agricultural productivity in Japan served as a great foundation for a smooth transition from medieval feudal society to modern society.

National high-resolution cropland classification of Japan with agricultural census information and multi-temporal multi-modality datasets

Multi-modality datasets offer advantages for processing frameworks with complementary information, particularly for large-scale cropland mapping. Extensive training datasets are required to train machine learning algorithms, which can be challenging to obtain. To alleviate the limitations, we extract the training samples from the agricultural census information. We focus on Japan and demonstrate how agricultural census data in 2015 can map different crop types for the entire country. Due to the lack of Sentinel-2 datasets in 2015, this study utilized Sentinel-1 and Landsat-8 collected across Japan and combined observations into composites for different prefecture periods (monthly, bimonthly, seasonal). Recent deep learning techniques have been investigated the performance of the samples from agricultural census information. Finally, we obtain nine crop types on a countrywide scale (around 31 million parcels) and compare our results to those obtained from agricultural census testing samples as well as those obtained from recent land cover products in Japan. The generated map accurately represents the distribution of crop types across Japan and achieves an overall accuracy of 87% for nine classes in 47 prefectures. Our findings highlight the importance of using multi-modality data with agricultural census information to evaluate agricultural productivity in Japan. The final products are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7519274.

Effect of Climate Change on Agricultural Productivity in Japan

The study sought to examine the effect of climate change on agricultural productivity in Japan. The study adopted the cross-section research design. Questionnaires were used to collect the data. The respondents included farmers and officials in Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The study indicated the negative and significant correlation between agricultural productivity and climate change. Climate change was found to be satisfactory in explaining agricultural productivity in Japan. The results indicated that climate change is a good predictor of agricultural productivity. The regression results showed that climate change is negatively and significantly related to agricultural productivity. The results implied that when the climate change deteriorates by one unit, the agricultural productivity will reduce by 0.327 units holding other factors constant. The effect of climate change is frequent wildfires, more extended periods of drought in some regions and an increase in the number, duration and intensity of tropical storms. The study recommended there is a need to focus on planet-friendly investments. Individuals can spur change through savings and investments by choosing financial institutions that do not invest in carbon-polluting industries. The government needs to accomplish sensitization program awareness on cause, influence, reduction and adjustment to environmental change. The government needs to additionally urge the adoption of smart agriculture where farmers do not count on rain feed agriculture but on scientific agriculture. It should provide farmers with drought-resistant seeds and livestock to improve production and ensure food security in Japan. Technological development can decrease the unfavorable effects of weather irregularity and might affect global adaptation efforts favoring various nations. There should be an emphasis on more tree planting in the country. Keywords:  Climate Change, Agricultural Productivity, Japan

Dynamic Panel Data Analysis of the Impacts of Climate Change on Agricultural Production in Japan

This study empirically identifies the impact of global-warming-induced climate change on Japan’s agricultural production using panel data. First, we constructed panel data; combining time-series data from 1995 to 2006 for a cross-section of eight regions in Japan. Next, we conducted a static panel data analysis, using a function for agricultural products incorporating labor and three weather variables (temperature, solar radiation, and precipitation.) From the estimation results of the production function, we selected the production function with the aforementioned labor and weather variables and found that the rising temperatures and precipitation and falling solar radiation caused by climate change have reduced the rice production, while rising temperatures and precipitation have reduced the vegetable and potato production in Japan. Second, we conducted dynamic panel data analysis, using a production function for agricultural products incorporating labor, a one-period lagged output, and the same three weather variables. Based on the estimation results of the dynamic panel data model, we selected the production function for agricultural products using only the labor and three weather variables and found the same results for both the rice production and vegetable and potato production in Japan. Based on the estimated results of the static and dynamic-panel data models for variable mean annual temperature, which serves as a proxy for climate change, we concluded that an increase of 1°C in mean annual temperature would reduce rice production by 5.8% in the short term and 3.9% in the long term, and vegetables and potatoes productions by 5.0% and 8.6% in the short term and long term, respectively.

近年の日本農業の脅威となる外来侵入植物ウイルス・ウイロイド

International trade is one of the main ways by which a species can expand its geographical range. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the worldwide distribution of many pests has increased through the international circulation of crop seeds and seedlings. In this review, viruses and viroids that have invaded Japan since 2000 are described in order of their prevalence. Measures to prevent invasion by such viruses and viroids and protect agricultural production in Japan from alien pests are discussed.

Threats to Japanese agriculture from newly emerged plant viruses and viroids

International trade is one of the main ways by which a species can expand its geographical range. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the worldwide distribution of many pests has increased through the international circulation of crop seeds and seedlings. In this review, viruses and viroids that have invaded Japan since 2000 are described in order of their prevalence. Measures to prevent invasion by such viruses and viroids and protect agricultural production in Japan from alien pests are discussed.

Overview of Recent Effects of Global Warming on Agricultural Production in Japan

To determine the effects of recent warming trends on agricultural production in Japan, in 2003 and 2005, surveys of the public institutes of agricultural research in 47 prefectures were conducted. The results suggest that recent warming trends have already significantly affected nearly all types of crops and livestock in Japan. All 47 prefectures reported warming effects on fruit tree cultivation and over 70% of prefectures recognized the effects on rice, vegetable and flower cultivation. Horticultural crops and rice are likely to be more sensitive to global warming than other agricultural crops and livestock. Our survey elucidated many effects of recent warming, such as phenological changes in many crops, increases in fruit coloring disorders and incidences of chalky rice kernels, reductions in yields of wheat, barley, vegetables, flowers, milk and eggs, and alterations in the type of disease and pest.

Book Review : Hideo Kotoh “Restoraction of Agricultural Production in Japan —Self-sufficient 50% trasted by mezzo-region integrated farming”

Book Review : Hideo Kotoh “Restoraction of Agricultural Production in Japan —Self-sufficient 50% trasted by mezzo-region integrated farming”

Influence of the Current State of Global Warming on Agricultural Production in Japan

Influence of the Current State of Global Warming on Agricultural Production in Japan

Agricultural Productivity and Economic Growth: Role of Tax Revenues and Infrastructures

1. IntroductionDevelopment economists such as Rostow (1960) and Ranis and Fei (1961) have stressed a positive linkage between agricultural productivity and industrialization. The positive link, however, has been argued to be nonexistent by Matsuyama (1992) in a two-sector endogenous growth model of small-open economies with a low elasticity of agricultural goods and the existence of learning-by-doing only in the domestic manufacturing sector.1 As a result of comparative advantage, higher agricultural productivity solicits labor inputs from the manufacturing sector in his model, leading to lower learning-by-doing and economic growth.Matsuyama's results, however, may not be consistent with what has actually happened in Japan and other East Asian economies. In Japan a land reform has been implemented, and allocation of resources to agricultural research has been increased since the Meiji Restoration. As a result of agricultural technical progress,2 agricultural productivity in Japan is much higher than before the Meiji Restoration. In particular, evidence has shown that the agricultural technical change after the Meiji Restoration tends to increase nonagricultural output by pushing resources out of the agricultural sector into the nonagricultural sector. For example, see Yamaguchi and Binswanger (1975, table 7) for the quantitative effects of the agricultural technical change in Japan on nonagricultural output (column 3) and on input reallocation (columns 5 and 7) in 1880-1965. Similarly, the agricultural technical change was higher in Korea's and Taiwan's early stages of economic development, as they have founded agricultural research institutes and farmers' associations during the Japanese colonial period3 and implemented land reforms after World War II. For evidence, see Mason et al. (1980, chapter 7) for the case of Korea and Thorbecke (1979) for the case of Taiwan. A World Bank (1982, p. 45) study reports that for the 23 developing countries whose agricultural growth rate in the 1970s exceeded 3% a year, 17 countries had a GDP growth rate above 5% a year in the same period. Finally, using cross-country data for 14 Asian developing countries in 1960-1986, Mellor (1995) finds a positive and significant relationship between growth rate of per capita agricultural and nonagricultural GDPs, in which both agricultural and nonagricultural sectors grow more rapidly than 31 sub-Saharan and 20 Latin American countries. These above observations lead to interesting questions as to what mechanism lies in the positive impact of accelerated agricultural growth on nonagricultural growth. What policies might increase the efficiency with which a productive agricultural sector moves a nonagricultural sector forward?The purpose of this study is to revisit the linkages between agricultural productivity and economic growth with a government policy. Our model is based on Matsuyama's (1992) framework, with a small twist, so that we can clearly identify the mechanism leading to a positive relationship. The departure in this article lies in introducing a government, which collects taxes and then conducts expenditures on infrastructures. An important role played by higher agricultural productivity in an early stage of economic development is the one by which it renders the government larger tax revenues, so that larger expenditure on infrastructures is facilitated.4 In a study investigating Taiwan's rice-for-fertilizer bartering system in the 1950s and 1960s, Koo (1996, table 2) finds that the resulting hidden taxes on rice alone account for 10-20% of total tax revenue in the period extending from 1950 to 1969. Along with other taxes, the agricultural sector is thus an important source of government revenue in a developing economy.5 Following Barro (1991), public expenditure on infrastructures is assumed to be productive, in that the learning-by-doing effect of the manufacturing sector becomes enhanced with public expenditure on infrastructures. …

A benefit incidence analysis on the far-reaching effects of paddy-field consolidation projects

A paddy-field consolidation (PC) project was carried out with large subsidies as a public investment by prefectural governments in order to improve agricultural productivity in Japan. The purpose of this study is to analyze the quantitative benefits and costs of the PC projects. A benefit incidence (BI) analysis was used in view of the far-reaching effects on farmers to consumers. The results were as follows. First, with the recent decline in rice price, certain farmer benefits primarily derived from the projects have been transferred to consumers through rice price. The transfer ratio was more than half of the total improvement effect of rice productivity which occurred on the farmers’ side, and all economic sectors including farmers and consumers received net benefit even though all sectors paid construction costs or taxes. Therefore, maintaining flexibility in rice price plays an important role to secure net benefits and obtain an agreement of all people involved in the project. Second, some benefits with regard to effects on the rural environment that was not expected at the time of planning were revealed on many project sites. Evaluating these intangible effects will be more important for the tax payers in order to evaluate how the environment friendly planning of the project achieved benefits.

Impacts of Set-Aside and R&E Policies on Agricultural Productivity in Japan, 1965-97

This paper estimates input-saving and output-augmenting productivity (PGX and PGY) with respect to the stock of technological knowledge resulting from public R&E investments as well as returns to scale (RTS) at farm level in Japanese agriculture for the period 1965-97. It also investigates the impacts of set-aside and public R&E policies on PGX, PGY, and RTS. In attaining objectives, a multi-product translog variable cost function is estimated using farm management data for Japanese agriculture excluding the Hokkaido district. Empirical results show that both PGX and PGY have experienced decreasing trends, while returns to scale have shown increasing trends since 1972. Additionally, the set-aside programs seemed to have the effect of discouraging larger-scale farming. Meanwhile, public R&E activities have encouraged larger-scale farming but have had negative effects on PGX and PGY. The negative effects may have been caused mainly by declining effciency in the utilization of research outputs on the part of farmers probably because of dampened incentives due partly to the set-aside programs.

Recent trend of nitrogen flow associated with agricultural production in Japan

The excessive use of chemical fertilizers and manure in intensive agriculture sometimes causes environmental problems, including water pollution. Although it is speculated that surplus nitrogen (N) from Japanese agriculture may have had a strong impact on the environment, few quantitative assessments are available. In this study N flow in agricultural production was estimated from1980 to 1997. During this period, application of chemical fertilizers per unit area of farmland peaked in 1985 and then decreased. This was largely due to a decrease in the input of chemical fertilizer on paddy rice, although the input for vegetables per unit area increased. Even though the input of chemicalfertilizers for industrial crops decreased, it was still higher than for any other crop category. The amount of livestock wastes per unit area of farmland increased during the period and that of non-utilized livestock wastes also increased. Residual N on farmland and non-utilized livestock wastes could cause environmental pollution. The amount of residual N on farmland, which is expressed as the difference between N inputs and N outputs, was lowest in 1997because of the low input of chemical fertilizers and manure, though the amount of non-utilized livestock wastes was highest. Therefore the sum of the amount of residual N on farmland and non-utilized livestock wastes was not the lowest during the period and the sum of both was 141, 163, 158, and 148 kg N ha-1 in 1980, 1985, 1990, and 1997, respectively. To decrease these levels as well as the environmental risk associated with agricultural production, reduced input of chemical fertilizers for vegetables and industrial crops and, effective and active use of livestock wastes are important.

Climatic Change and Agricultural Production in Japan over the Last 100 Years

First, general trends of agricultural production and changes of air temperature, precipitation and sunshine hours in Japan over the last 100 years are described. In agricultural production or yield, three periods can generally be recognized: period 1, from the end of the 19 century to about 1920, Period 2, from about 1921 to 1945-47, the end or just a few years after the 2nd world war, and Period 3, after the end of the 2nd world war. Secondly, fluctuation of climatic conditions and its effects on the paddy rice yield over the last 104 years were studied statistically in order to evaluate the different impacts according to the periods. By applying the principal component analysis method, their distributions, periodicities and relations to monthly mean air temperature, monthly total precipitation, and monthly total sunshine hours were studied. The first component has a significant correlation to the all three climatic elements in July, and to air temperature and sunshine hours in August and precipitation and sunshine hour in September, In the second part of this study, we classify the 104 years into three periods according to interannual changes of paddy rice yield. For these three periods, the general trends and fluctuations are described and the relationship between the yield and climatic elements are analyzed for five region, respectively.

Impacts of economies of scale and technological change on agricultural productivity in Japan

This study investigates the determinants of changes in the growth of conventionally measured total factor productivity (TFP) in postwar Japanese agriculture. The investigation is carried out for different size classes of farms for the 1958–1985 period by decomposing the TFP growth rates into the scale effect and technological change effect based on the estimates of a Stevenson-Greene type translog cost function. It is found that in smaller scale farms technological change played a most important role in determining the TFP growth rate, whereas the scale effect was a dominant determinant of the TFP growth rate in larger scale farms.

Development of Dispersive System of Energy Production by Utilizing Unused Resources

The dispersive system of energy production comes before the footlights whenever a crisis of energy is concerned, but in fact, the concentrated system of energy production, which depends mainly on overseas resources, tends to expand its share. Most of the energy which is consumed for agricultural production in Japan depends on imported oil, so Japan is lacking in independence in terms of energy. We, therefore, have to aim at self-supply of energy for Japanese agriculture by actively utilizing unused resources which exists stably in Japan.When we consider about the problem of energy, we should not think it only in respect of physical energy efficiency, it is more desirable for us to think it also in respect of economical viewpoint. In addition, we have been thinking the problems of the dispersive system fragmentalily in isolation before, that is the reason why such problems exist still today. Therefore, we have to think of the energy problems systematically and not to repeat the same failure again.In order to realize the proposal mentioned above, we have to think of the introduction of dispersive system as a supplement system to the concentrated system, as J.W.Milon shows in his thesis.As far as the concentrated system is concerned, enormous energy is produced constantly, and when we study the process of energy production in the portion of operating time, it is devided into three units ; base unit, intermediate unit, and peak unit. Base unit such as nuclear or coal generators has high capital costs and low variable costs. On the other hand, peak unit is intensive and has low capital costs. Then it can be said that the marginal production cost is highest at the peak unit and lowest at the base unit.As mentioned above, if we take notice of that the marginal cost differs in the amount of production, the dispersive system would be able to supplement the concentrated system at the peak unit when a high marginal cost is inevitable. As a result of this, the production cost of the concentrated system will get lower as a whole, so we have to intend to magnify the dispersive system.The cost decision theory of marginal cost, which began to be popular in the 1930's has been authorized recently, and was formed in a public law in the U.S.A. in 1978. So in Japan, we have to combine many of the dispersive systems based on the theory - the marginal cost becomes energy charges - and then, we should aim at reducing the marginal cost and thinking the optimum distribution of resources over a long time. The most adequate method for it is to determine the most suitable combination of the dispersive systems under limited conditions, and to make good use of the marginal cost which is determined in the fittest combination. Then we have to look for the most suitable way leading to the best, using multi-stage linear programing.

Land Infrastructure Improvement in Agricultural Development: The Japanese Case, 1900-1965

Land infrastructure improvement, such as irrigation and drainage, represents a basic condition for the development and diffusion of seed-fertilizer technology which facilitates the substitution of fertilizer and other current inputs for land, thereby breaking the constraint of scarce land resources on agricultural production. Land infrastructure improvement has been identified as one of the most important factors to the growth of agricultural productivity in Japan. However, less attention has been given to a systematic analysis of the costs and benefits of land infrastructure improvement and to the adjustments which it imposed on agriculture. In this paper I attempt to examine, through the estimation of aggregate production function, the productivity of land infrastructure improvement in Japanese agricultural development in terms of the marginal social and private rates of return. I also try to demonstrate the contribution of land infrastructure improvement to agricultural growth in the 1900-1965 period. The recent technological breakthrough in the production of major staple cereals, widely heralded as the green revolution, has made the irrigation infrastructure a bottleneck more critical than ever for agricultural development in developing countries.1 Stimulus for this study was in part due to the fact that land infrastructure problems are becoming

The Sources and Rates of Productivity Gains in Japanese Agriculture, as Compared with the U.S. Experience

the century that has elapsed since her modernization process began in 1868. It is well known that this increase in output has been accomplished with remarkably small demands on the scarce resources, land and capital, in the framework of small-scale agriculture. Given the constraints of her resource endowment, the key theme in the growth of agricultural productivity in Japan has been that of increasing the yields of land.1 To be sure, there is clear evidence that labor productivity has also increased as output per acre increased at about the same man-land ratio. This is quite evident, especially since the 1950's, when the land reform programs were completed and the spectacular growth of the Japanese economy got under way. The newly created owner-farmers, on one hand supported by the rise in real incomes and on the other prodded by the increasing real wage levels both on the farm and elsewhere, took the initiative in mechanizing field operations.2 Moreover, the use of agricultural chemicals which substitute for labor, particularly insecticides, spread to all agricultural enterprises and especially to rice cultivation. The processes of mechanizing field operations and of increasing the application of agricultural chemicals are the prima facie evidence of a gradual shift of emphasis from the land-productivity growth to the labor-productivity growth in Japanese agriculture. Nonetheless, in comparison with the U.S. experience, it seems safe to say that the shift is not yet complete and that the

Innovations in the Fertilizer Industry and Agricultural Development: The Japanese Experience

This essay aims to provide strategic guides for Asian development by evaluating the contribution of innovations in the fertilizer industry to the growth of agricultural productivity in Japan from 1883 to 1937. Estimates of the levels of fertilizer inputs and grain yields per hectare are made for the hypothetical cases in which the fertilizer industry did not develop as it actually did. Results indicate that the development of agricultural supply industries in the nonfarm sector is crucial for agricultural growth.